


oh, these days get heavy

by lgbtbuck



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Compliant, Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie) Spoilers, Fix-It, Happy Ending, M/M, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-07
Updated: 2018-05-07
Packaged: 2019-05-03 11:40:54
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,130
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14568261
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lgbtbuck/pseuds/lgbtbuck
Summary: They do it all over again. They get a second chance.





	oh, these days get heavy

**Author's Note:**

> SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!!
> 
>  
> 
> kinda based off the a4 set pics where it looks like they traveled back to 2012 avengers battle of new york

They do it all over again.

Thor, Shuri, and Bruce — they work tirelessly to figure it out. Steve knows it distracts them from their grief. Steve joins them in the lab for the same reason, though he can contribute nothing. He stands in the corner of the palace lab, arms crossed, eyes fixated. Their ramblings float through his consciousness, distracting him for fleeting moments, _"Steve?"_ being washed out by talk of time travel. God, what Steve would give to go back in time. What Steve would give for it all to be different. For Bucky to be standing here beside him right now.

 _Why him?_ Steve has thought for the past few days. Endlessly, a loop of anguish and regret and confusion and guilt. _Why him?_ Hasn't he been through enough? Hasn't Steve lost him enough? Steve's fingertips ache with it, the distance between him and Bucky every time. The train, the helicarrier, the breeze in Wakanda. They keep getting separated, and it's an ugly feeling, when Steve has the memories of Bucky's hands pressed so firmly to his skin, his lips so sweetly against his own. When Steve holds home close in his heart, but all he holds in his arms is the weight of his guilt, the pillow he clutches to at night when he doesn't sleep.

Thor visits him often, though it's hard for either of them to speak. To say these horrible truths out loud. Thor has lost everything, and yet, here he still stands, still leads the charge; he hasn't given up though he stands alone, on a planet that's not even his.

Shuri — Steve has great respect for her. Her mind and duties are split, her heart crushing under the damage to her country, the country she now leads. Faced with the responsibilities that fell upon her as T'Challa faded away, she and Okoye work to lead what's left of their people, to reassure them in a time when they don't have the answers they need. Shuri devotes every moment she can, every piece of her soul, every part of her brain, every synapse, to getting them all back. To stopping Thanos and saving the universe.

All Steve does is stare.

Eventually, Thor is able to use Stormbreaker to find Tony and bring him to Wakanda, along with someone who introduces herself as Nebula. Thor offers her a gentle hand on her shoulder once hearing her story, a story of anguish as well, losing a sister she's just come to know, at the hands of their Titan father, the Titan that's taken everything. She sits awkwardly with Rocket — a raccoon Steve is not surprised to see after the days they've had, after being introduced to a talking tree, whom the raccoon grieves as well. She and Tony tell the story of their time on Titan, and Rocket's ears have drooped in despair since.

They are, all of them, filled with an unimaginable sadness and insurmountable grief that somehow they are the lucky ones, that they get to live. It is hard news to reconcile, to bear. It feels like a brand, burning Steve's skin with every moment, the loss stinging every part of him. The weight of it is ugly, and Steve crumbles under it as he watches his teammates work.

He can't just sit here. He _can't_. Thinking about it won't bring them back, won't magically conjure them out of the ash they fell into. Steve has lost Bucky too many times, but he's gotten him back each time, too. This loss, it isn't permanent. Steve _refuses_. This loss, it charges him. He stands up, for Bucky, for Sam, for Wanda, for half the universe.

They figure it out. They aren’t out of time, anymore. They're making it. They're doing it over again, and this time, they're going to do it right.

—

By some goddamn miracle, it works.

They go back to six years ago, they change the future, precise and careful and dedicated. The Tesseract is nothing now, the Space Stone gone. Out of Thanos' reach and the fate he would bring to the universe.

They're back in 2018. Under the same canopy of trees where Steve watched everything disappear. Now, he watches as all that was lost returns to being before him. It's an odd sight to see, the relativity of time and reality and everything, this scene magically unfolding, reversing the worst of the pain in Steve's chest.

It happens slowly and instantaneously. Thor is with them now; Loki, too, safe from the damage of the Tesseract. Groot and Rocket beside them. T'Challa is standing next to Okoye again, Sam flanking them, Wanda with Vision, and Bucky —

"Steve?"

Steve turns at the sound of his name, a rush of wind loud in his ears, as time comes crashing down once again. All the years, all the moments, all the times they've called each other's names — this. This is everything, suddenly. The pinnacle of it all, Bucky here within Steve's reach, centuries later, after countless moments of being just too far, just too unlucky; after countless moments of holding him close, staying by his side. This — Steve can't lose this again. This relief is indescribable, as Bucky takes steps towards him, as if it never happened, as if Steve didn't watch him turn to nothing right before his eyes. As if they weren't made to exist without each other.

He feels as the air changes around them all, as they all realize the truth of this moment: it worked. It fucking worked, and they have a chance again. They have more time. He feels it ripple throughout his team, but he pays them no mind, eyes never leaving Bucky as he surges towards him.

When Steve gets to him, he rests his hands on his face, his shoulder, his waist, anything he can grab. Any proof that he's real and standing here before him right now. Steve holds onto him with his battered hands, wrapping him up in his tired arms, his arms that know just how to fit Bucky's shoulders under them, pulling them into his frame. The embrace is as warm and familiar as ever, fortified in all the years they've known each other, all the years they've touched just like this. _They weren't made to exist without each other._

Steve cups Bucky's head in his hand, the shield on his arm enclosing them in this private space as he presses his lips to Bucky's skin. Steve's fingers tangle in Bucky's hair as sure as he feels Bucky's fingers curl into the uniform on his chest, into the holes left behind by the ripped out star that emblazoned him. It was a mantle too much to carry, too much to serve, when it was taken by the same government that tried to keep Bucky from him, tried to treat him as something he wasn't. Steve has always only ever wanted to protect Bucky, and he does this here, now, holding him, keeping him from a fate so cruel.

"You're here," Steve whispers, in disbelief, still, though he feels the realness of it in his chest, _against_ his chest, as Bucky presses into him. "You're here. You're okay. You're here."

"Steve…" Bucky breathes, and the air against Steve's skin is warm and palpable. Bucky's arms wrap tight around Steve, clutching at him.

Steve lets the touch of his lips linger on Bucky's skin, a soft pressure; a reassurance. He's here, they're together. It's all that matters. "Oh, my God," Steve says, nearly crying with it, adjusting his hold. He almost lost Bucky again, another time he wouldn’t have been able to handle; it nearly broke him, watching him fade away, knowing he was part of the fifty percent that were taken, when the universe has already taken so much from him — from them. Steve's palm spans the back of Bucky's head, and there's a comfort there. It's secure and solid and Steve won't let it go.

He tips Bucky's head back, breathing deep as his eyes find those he knows so well, a crisp blue in the Wakandan sunlight right now, eyes glistening. Steve swallows, throat tight as he stares at the man he loves. His hand comes to Bucky's cheek, gently, resting there. "Buck," he exhales. "Buck."

Their lips fit together as perfectly as their bodies do, years of memory and touch aligning once again, in a moment so sweet, so harmonious, so calm. There is momentum around them, and here they stand, still and strong against it all: time, reality, power, space, what have you. An unmovable thing, sure in the entanglement of their souls, their hearts bound to one another, a joined force that has taken on much more of the world than they bargained for.

Bucky's fingers slip into the ends of Steve's hair as they kiss, hearts pounding against each other. There are tears on Steve's cheeks, he knows, and all he can do is cup Bucky's face in his hands and press closer, farther, melding into him. Their mouths work with one another, a tender union seventy years in the making, seventy years strong. Steve loves him more than anything.

It takes a while, but they break, not willing to push their own luck. Bucky rests his forehead against Steve's, and they breathe together, hands clutched and forming a cage around their heads.

"Did you…" Bucky starts, breathless, aching, quiet. He swallows audibly. "Did you go?"

Steve's head shakes. "No," he whispers back. "No, I — it was a few days, trying to fix everything. Bucky, I — watching you go — oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry. It shouldn't have been you."

"Hey. Shh," Bucky says softly. "Let's not think about that. I'm here now. We get another chance, okay?" Now, he takes Steve's head in his hands, beautiful each of them, one littered with callouses, the other flecked with gold. His lips press surely against Steve's brow, the taut skin there. He kisses the new scar on his forehead, and then his cheekbones. The bridge of his nose. "We get another chance," he repeats, lips so close to Steve's own, and Steve whimpers, nodding into another kiss.

They use their chance well.

They return to where the team stands gathered, huddled close to each other. Steve hugs Sam tightly for a few moments, the brotherhood they've crafted strong. He shakes hands with T'Challa, grateful for his presence and for Shuri, who didn't deserve to face the loss of her brother and her people. For Wanda, the girl he's come to hold dear, a kiss to her temple.

Thanos will still seek the Mind Stone, for the powers it possesses. There is no question of his impending arrival. But they're prepared this time, a plan of attack at the ready. The Outriders dwindle in number around them as the Wakandans and Jabari fight against them still; Thor retrieves the group from Titan, and they are once again joined by Tony and Nebula, now with Peter Parker as well, another Peter, Drax, Mantis, and a Doctor Strange, who protects the Time Stone.

The wind repeats its chilling pattern, whistling and bringing an eerie quiet with it. A ring shaped ship lands amongst its Outrider pods, and out steps Thanos. He wields his gauntlet, flecked with only purple and red. Dangerous, yes, but not unbeatable.

They charge.

They attack, they distract. A group does the same from behind, and this time they get the glove off, this time grief doesn't get in the way. This time, they win. Twenty of them against a Titan, the Wakandans at the flank, taking down the Outriders and the children of Thanos that remain. He sleeps again, under Mantis' power, and Quill pulls a location out of him, and then Nebula steps up.

They watch as she draws her weapon, brandishing it as she circles his subdued frame, before slashing his neck with a strike as powerful as her cry. A dark purple flows out of the wound, and he falls to the ground, Mantis climbing off of his dying body and standing next to Nebula, who stares coldly at him. Quill runs off to the ship just as a green form emerges from it, running towards him just as fast. Nebula catches sight, and joins them. As does Groot, and so the rest of them follow: Rocket, Mantis, Drax.

Steve watches as they embrace. T'Challa and Okoye ensure the Titan's death, as does Wanda, who zaps him a few times for good measure.

They won.

Steve turns to Bucky, who is there and real and alive. All he can do is wrap his arms around him, heart in his throat. Bucky slumps against him, and they breathe. He's safe. Steve won't be losing him again.

He tightens his hold. "Let's go home."

 

**Author's Note:**

> it's canon bc i said so


End file.
